Born in Switzerland and growing up in Germany Dr Arno worked and lived in the USA, Canada, Philippines, Bangladesh, New Zealand and finally Australia. His initial career was studying Geophysics, and he trained as a Paediatric nurse in Berlin, Germany. While working as a Paediatric nurse he realised how much he loved medicine and helping children and their families, and he decided to study medicine. Dr Arno specialised as a Paediatrician at the Ernst Moritz Arndt University Children’s Hospital in Greifswald, Germany with part of his advanced training in New Orleans, USA and Hamilton, Canada.

Dr Arno worked in child nutrition, immunology, and neonatology research in Germany and as a volunteer Paediatrician in the impoverished areas of Manila, Philippines and Chittagong, Bangladesh.

Later Dr Arno registered as a Paediatric specialist consultant in New Zealand and became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. From 2008-2015 he worked as a Paediatrician and senior lecturer in General Paediatrics and Paediatric Haematology/Oncology in Timaru and Wellington in New Zealand before moving to rural Australia in Mount Gambier and Traralgon. Since October 2018, Dr Arno has worked as a Specialist Paediatrician at Cairns Doctors on Barr St, founding and developing Cairns Paediatrics on Barr St.

Dr Arno’s professional interests and main focus are in Neurodevelopmental and Behavioural Paediatrics incl. ADHD, Autism, ODD; Mental Health e.g. Anxiety and Depression; Chronic Pain, Allergy, Asthma. He has a special interest in Travel Health and Wilderness Medicine but currently does not practice in this field.

Dr Arno does see children from newborn age to adolescence until their 18th birthday. However, if your teenage child would like to see him for a chronic condition after the 16th birthday, he recommends considering an adult physician service to ensure continuity of long-term care. Please discuss the options with your GP.

Dr Arno does currently not see new patients if they are under a Government agency, e.g. Child Safety, and he does not see children for Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder assessments.

Dr Arno is a strong advocate for coordinated and methodical care to achieve the best outcome for the children and their families. He will send screening and assessment questionnaires and other information request forms to the parents / carers before the initial appointment, based on the information and concerns detailed in the GP referral letter. Dr Arno will not see a child for just signing off a diagnosis for assessments that were organised elsewhere by other parties without his initial involvement.  If needed, Dr Arno will decide together with the family which further assessment tools to use to conclude to a diagnosis and to formulate a best practice management plan, after he has seen the child. While formal allied health and educational department psychometric assessments can be extremely helpful as an aid in the assessment of your child, it is very important for your child to have a well-planned and structured approach from the very beginning you have concerns.  This will ensure continuity of care and the best health and development outcome for your child. Your child should have one lead health professional to have the oversight for organising and reviewing diagnostic assessments and therapeutic interventions. This can be your GP, your Paediatrician or any other health care provider of your choice. Dr Arno’s opinion may or may not concur with a diagnosis provided by another professional or that required for NDIS funding purpose.

Disclaimer: All tenant doctors and other practitioners operating at Cairns Paediatrics on Barr St are independent contractors. Each practitioner is solely responsible for their own fees, policies, conduct, professional services and each operate under their own ABN. Cairns Paediatrics on Barr St provides support and administrative services to its tenants but does not oversee or assume responsibility for their professional activities.

Appointments and Bookings

After receiving the GP referral, Dr Arno will triage the referral, and a specialist receptionist will contact you to arrange an appointment.

All new appointments require a non-refundable $100.00 booking-fee to secure your booking. The booking-fee will be applied towards your appointment cost. If you decide that your child is not needing an appointment anymore after the booking is made, the booking fee will not be refunded as it is for covering the administration work already required by our receptionist (phone calls, setting up your child in our computer system, sending emails) and by Dr Arno (triaging and sending a return of care letter to the GP).

Fees:
To make an appointment with our Paediatrician’s at our private specialist clinic, we make them affordable to as many families as possible, our clinic fees are much lower than the AMA (Australian Medical Association) recommendations for specialist consultation fees. The fees our clinic charge are necessary to cover the expenses for running a specialist practice.

*Medicare provides the higher rebate only for the first two reviews following the initial consult. For the 3rd and all following reviews, we therefore reduce the fees as you will receive only the decreased rebate.

The fees are payable on the day of your consultation. At Cairns Paediatrics we accept EFTPOS, credit cards (Mastercard, Visa, Amex), and cash. The Medicare rebate can be processed at the same time if you bring an EFTPOS card with you, or if your bank details are registered with Medicare can be sent online for processing.

Remember that your GP referral is valid for one year after the first appointment with our Paediatricians. Please ensure to obtain a new referral after the year or Medicare will not rebate you.

If your child requires an ECG or a spirometry it can be done free of charge before or after the consultation.

If you require a repeat prescription, please request it during the appointment. Outside a regular appointment a fee of $25 will apply. You may also ask your GP for a repeat script. If a medication change, a medication dose adjustment, or a Centrelink or NDIS form is required you will need to make an appointment.

Cancellation and non-attendance

Your appointment time has been reserved to see your child and family. If you cannot attend the appointment, Dr Arno respectfully asks to notify the specialist receptionist per phone call on (07) 4242 5300, at least 48 hours in advance so he can re-schedule and offer the timeslot to another patient. The cancellation must be made per phone call, not by email. The cancellation notice period is based on clear business days when notification is received, therefore excludes weekends and public holidays.

If you cancel an appointment less than 48 hours in advance or you do not attend an appointment, a cancellation/non-attendance fee of $200 for a missed initial and $100 for a missed review appointment will apply. The fee must be paid before a next appointment is offered. The cancellation/non-attendance fee is not rebated by Medicare.

Arrival and Running late

Please ensure you start early enough and arrive 15 minutes prior to your first appointment time to allow for your child to be fully set up and registered. For all subsequent visits it will be enough if you arrive for the check-in just 5 minutes prior the appointment. The appointment length is calculated to have adequate time to talk about your concerns, examining your child and discuss and prepare a management plan. If you arrive more than 10 minutes late and there is a next patient scheduled there is not enough time to cover all these needs safely and Dr Arno has to cancel the appointment, and the cancellation fee applies.